Tag Archives: petition

British lawmakers debated halting Brexit on Monday after a record six million people signed a petition to revoke the process that set Britain on course to leave the European Union. Britons voted to leave the European Union by 52 percent to 48 percent in 2016, and the following year British Prime Minister Theresa May gave notice of the intent to leave the bloc on March 29, 2019 under Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty. The online petition to revoke Article 50 took off after a speech when May said that she was on the side of the British public over Brexit.

More than 300,000 people have signed online petitions calling for Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to receive a Nobel Peace Prize after he freed an Indian pilot in a bid to defuse tensions with his country’s arch-rival neighbour. The capture of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman had become the focus of renewed hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals which have alarmed the international community. The hashtag #NobelPeaceForImranKhan began trending on Twitter on Thursday after Khan unexpectedly announced that the captured pilot would be released as a “peace gesture”.

Relatives of victims of Peru’s military death-squads under Alberto Fujimori said Wednesday they would petition the pope when he visits next week for help in getting a pardon for the ex-president annulled. A relatives’ group has requested a meeting with Pope Francis during the second leg of his South American trip to Chile and Peru next week. The December 24 pardon sparked a wave of protest in Peru.

Hundreds of thousands of people have signed a petition calling on Donald Trump to “formally recognise” anti-fascists as terrorists. The petition on the White House website urges the federal government to declare Antifa, a terror group, out of “principle, integrity, morality and safety”. Antifa, shorthand for antifascist organisations, refers to a loose coalition of decentralised, grassroots groups opposed to the many guises of fascism.

Brigitte Macron, the wife of French president Emmanuel Macron, will not officially be France’s First Lady, according to government officials and reports. The decision flies in the face of Mr Macron's pre-election promise to make an official position for his wife, a move that turned heads particularly as the government is soon to pass a law preventing MPs from hiring family members as assistants, as part of his own anti-corruption drive. But after 280,000 people signed a petition over the last two weeks in an attempt to block Mrs Macron from having a salary, it appears the government is back-pedalling. French government spokesman Christophe Castaner took to Twitter on Monday night to stress that Mrs Macron would not have an official role. President Macron had intended to give his wife the official First Lady title, much life Melania Trump Credit: Michel Euler/AP “Brigitte Macron has a role and responsibilities. We are looking to be transparent and to outline the means she has at her disposal,” he wrote. “No modification of the constitution, no new funding, no salary for Brigitte Macron. Stop the hypocrisy!” Mr Macron, 39, had promised on the campaign trail in March that his wife would have a “real status”. "Paid by the Republic, no. Having a role, a real status, a real capacity to act, yes," Mr Macron said at the time. The presidency has said it will clarify Mrs Macron’s role in the coming days and that there would be no change to the constitution to create a First Lady position, sources told AFP and BFM TV. The French government plans to make clear exactly how much Mrs Macron will be costing taxpayers. "The idea is for the French people to know how much this role costs," Aurore Berge, a senior lawmaker from Macron's party, told Europe 1 radio today. Former president Francois Hollande and his companion Valerie Trierweiler, who, like all previous presidents' wives, was not First Lady Credit: Jacques Brinon/AP Mrs Macron currently has a team of two or three aides, two secretaries, and two security guards. Former President Francois Hollande’s wife Valerie Trierweiler cost the public €400,000 in 2013, public figures show. Neither Ms Trierweiler or any former wife of France’s past presidents have ever had the official title of First Lady. Brigitte Trogneux's most elegant looks